Strings of Madness
by LordTicky
Summary: Insanity is in everyone, and all it takes to unleash it is a simple nudge. One day, a young blonde gets his hands on a scroll detailing the Suna art of puppetry, and his life spirals from there. Insane!Naruto, dark!Naruto, not evil though. Puppeteer!Naruto.


**I do not own Naruto. If I did, Kakashi might have actually taught the entire team, not just Sasuke.**

There's a certain thing that most people don't understand about insanity.

For most people, when they hear the word, they think of a loss of logic and reasoning. Up is left and down is candy. Smelling the color nine.

But that is not true at all. Insane people have logic and reasoning. It's frightfully cold and often twisted, but it's logic and reasoning all the same. And all it takes for someone to tap into that reasoning is the smallest nudge. This nudge can be anything, from witnessing the death of one's loved one's in front of your very eyes, to reading a certain passage in a book or scroll.

For example, 10-year old Naruto Uzumaki. Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Ostracized orphan and bane of ANBU everywhere. He will soon be subject to one of those very nudges.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto is an infamous prankster, his antics often leading to hours-long chases around the relatively peaceful village of Konohagakure.

At the moment that this story has begun, Naruto had failed the Genin graduation exam at the ninja academy for the first time.

Now, Naruto was no fool. He knew that the 'academy three' (Henge, Kawarimi, and Bunshin) were important skills for being a ninja, but by no means necessary. Many ninja lived out their entire careers without ever using one or more of those skills, though they _were_ useful if used properly. And yet, he had failed on account of his Bunshin. His Kawarimi was passable, and his Henge was excellent. Naruto's taijutsu skills were average or a bit below, and his skills with weapons were in the higher percentages. His written work could be a LOT better, but it was still passing.

But that damned Bunshin…

At the very least the assistant teacher, Iruka Umino, had tried arguing in his favor, citing multiple precedents were other students had been allowed to pass without knowing one or the other of the academy three. Alas, the senior teacher, one Rasha Otokashi, had declared, on the spot, that it was new policy that all three be learned in order to pass. A policy that Naruto knew to NOT be true thanks to his frequent visits to the Hokage.

In revenge for this unfair (fake) rule, Naruto pulled one of his infamous pranks on the soon-to-be retiring teacher. Naturally, it went off without a hitch and late in the evening a blue-splattered man was seen racing down the streets and calling for the head of the laughing blonde even as he scratched all over as the itching powder kicked in.

Now, in the linear stream of events known as 'canon', the ANBU would catch Naruto shortly after he entered the business district and take him to the Hokage where he would have to issue a formal, if sarcastic, apology to the aged instructor.

However, we are not in canon. In this universe, the previous spring season had been exceptionally rainy. Why is this significant? Two reasons. The first is that the extra rain had delayed a caravan out of Suna, guarded by a freshly graduated Genin team. And the second? The roof of the hotel that the Genin team was staying in was rotted from improper maintenance and the extra rain.

 _CRASH!_

The weight of Naruto landing on the roof of the hotel during the chase caused it to cave in, sending Naruto into the room of a certain Suna Genin who had just started researching the art of puppetry. Unbeknownst to Naruto, the Suna Genin, and the pursuing ANBU, a scroll that had been placed on the Suna Genin's nightstand rolled from its perch and into the satchel that Naruto was carrying that contained his pranking supplies.

Not seconds after Naruto crashed through the ceiling, the ANBU chasing him grabbed the blonde-haired child and _Shunshin_ ed to the Hokage's office.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Naruto." Sarutobi Hiruzen stated, looking at the child that sat across from him.

"Jiji." Naruto replied, looking the aged Hokage in the eye. That is, until his attention wandered and he began looking around the office, thinking about how he'd re-decorate it after he inherited The Hat.

"Would you mind explaining why the senior academy instructor just got arrested for public indecency for scratching his unmentionables in pubic while covered in blue paint?" Hiruzen asked, concealing a smirk. The old man secretly enjoyed Naruto's pranks, but that didn't mean that he could just let Naruto go.

"He was being a total prick jiji!" Naruto shouted in his loud voice. "The bastard failed me because I can't perform the Bunshin! He made up some bullshit about there being some new law where you had to know all three of the techniques to pass!"

Hiruzen winced at Naruto's rather crass language. It was one of the consequences of Naruto's irregular childhood. Like with his pranking, it had started as a way to get attention, even the negative kind. After a while, it had just become second-nature to the blonde academy student.

"Well Naruto, while I can assure you that there is no such law, I'm afraid that I can do nothing to help you." Hiruzen stated sadly. "I'm afraid that the final match-ups for Genin teams have already been settled for this year, and even if I did pass you it'd be another year or more before I could place you on a team, which would mean you being sent back to the academy anyways."

Naruto frowned as he got out of his seat and began heading towards the door without saying another word.

Behind him, Hiruzen frowned as well. He knew that the news was crushing to Naruto, whose ultimate dream was to become Hokage. "Naruto-" Hiruzen began, intending to invite the blonde out to ramen to cheer him up.

"I'll have the apology on his desk tomorrow jiji." Naruto said, tiredness and sadness both evident in his voice.

Hiruzen almost spoke again, but stopped and nodded. Naruto needed to work through this on his own. The aged Hokage sighed before turning to the paperwork piled on his desk. It had almost doubled from the amount brought in by his Chunin assistants while he was talking to Naruto.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto sighed as he walked into his apartment, dropping his bag as he did so.

"Man, this sucks!" Naruto complained, dropping onto his couch and contemplating passing out, the events of his day wearying him and his bed shredded to bits after the last time his apartment had been raided. But he knew his jiji would ride his ass for that written apology so, with a mighty sigh Naruto reached a hand into his bag to grab the spare paper and pen he kept in there for the rare occasions where he had a prank idea, but no deserving victim.

"Huh? What's this?" Naruto asked, his hand bumping into a scroll that Naruto knew hadn't been there previously. Naruto was intimately aware of every item in his precious 'prank bag', and while he would occasionally put a scroll in his bag to reference while setting up a particularly tricky prank, he had needed no such item this time around and had packed accordingly.

" _The Art of Puppeteering: Basics_?" Naruto said, reading the scroll out loud. "Why the hell do I have a scroll about putting on a puppet show in my bag?" However, due to his subconscious reluctance to write the apology letter he had been assigned, Naruto opened up the scroll and began reading.

 _Introduction:_

 _The art of puppeteering is a subtle and demanding art. It requires a substantial amount of dedication to the arts poison making, trap setting, stealth, fuinjutsu, as well as chakra control. It also requires the user to be proficient in woodcarving, engineering, and smithing._

 _A very popular question most ask when they learn of the requirements for this rather rare branch of the shinobi skillset is why learn an art so demanding of time and patience that requires such a plethora of skills?_

 _The answer is very simple._

 _For all of its demands, the art of puppeteering is one of the safer career routes for a Suna shinobi to take. A true puppet master need not be anywhere near his or her target to kill or incapacitate hide and control their puppets from the shadows, set up traps to turn the environment against their target, and only emerge from the shadows when their puppets have killed or restrained their targets._

 _The Puppet Corps, as the rather small group of puppeteers operating in Suna is known, is given a great deal of power and often work hand in hand with the Kazekage as an internal peace group. During the reign of the Nidaime Kazekage a law was even passed that no (recognized) puppeteer could be convicted of murder as long as the puppeteer in question used a puppet for the act. This law was presumably set in the professional puppeteer's role as an internal peacekeeper._

 _Interestingly enough, the same law was also passed by the Nidaime Hokage. This was meant to be a sign of Konoha's faith in their alliance, that a visiting puppeteer could dispense punishment as he or she saw fit. The law, to this day, still stands._

Naruto's eyes widened as his eyes roamed about the scroll. This scroll was like a sign from Kami himself to the young Blonde. No one would dispute the fact that Naruto was a budding trap master, and that somehow he excelled in stealth despite his bright orange jumpsuit. Not many knew it, but Naruto was also adapt at many minor poisons, mostly diuretics and the like. And the last three? Woodcarving, smithing, and engineering? Naruto's furniture was made, not bought. Too expensive to constantly replace it from a store. Weapon shops refused to sell Naruto kunai and shuriken, so he often made his own with iron mined from nearby hills. And Naruto was the de-facto owner of his apartment complex after the previous owner had gotten into an 'argument' with the Hokage, so he spent plenting of time fixing the appliances.

In short, Naruto already possessed most of the skills needed for this art. But what set him on his new path wasn't the fact that he already seemed incredibly suited to it. No, it was four simple lines in his newly acquired scroll.

 _During the reign of the Nidaime Kazekage a law was even passed that no (recognized) puppeteer could be convicted of murder as long as the puppeteer in question used a puppet for the act._

 _Interestingly enough, the same law was also passed by the Nidaime Hokage. This was meant to be a sign of Konoha's faith in their alliance, that a visiting puppeteer could dispense punishment as he or she saw fit. The law, to this day, still stands._

The nudge was given, and a path was set. In the years to come, many would wonder on how Naruto set down the path of madness. Few would ever find out that the blonde started his slow descent the moment he opened up a scroll on Suna puppetry.

 **Hello peeps! This is my first attempt at a puppeteer!Naruto story. I love the idea of Naruto copying this art, but there are very few people who have written stories based off of this concept and even fewer who've actually stuck with them for any length of time. Now then, getting this out of the way, this will be a dark!Naruto story as well. Not exactly evil though. Naruto will still be loyal to the Hokage, just not the village. The Naruto wiki page hates my computer for some reason so if I ever post something that is WILDLY inaccurate (that can be proven as canon) please drop me a PM or review and let me know.**

 **This is something that I started doing with my FMA story and will continue to do with my other stories. Since this story is based off of puppets, this story shoutout is to Plucking Strings by Digitize27! It's a very interesting read that I'd highly recommend to anyone!**


End file.
